Welcome to Canadian Budget Binder (CBB), come on in and see why you want to become part of one heck of a team. We like to have lots of fun here while understanding the importance of money and finance.

Who is Mr.CBB?

I’m Mr.CBB the young (ish) British guy who shares his inspirations with you, the fans. My name really isn’t Mr.CBB but since I post our actual budget and our actual Net Worth Updates I choose to stay anonymous but if you really need to call me a name you can call me Mo!

I’m from the UK and a permanent resident in Canada and I love my life here in Ontario. I bought my first house at the age of 21 then my second at the age of 24. I’ve always been fascinated with personal finance, learning to make money and watch it grow while combating debts along the way.

Yes we have had debt, yes the wife had OSAP and car loans that put saving on the back burner for a while. There was also a point in my wife’s life where she was on social assistance just to make ends meet until she could find a job after she graduated.

Although that didn’t last long she understands the need for the system but she also understands how important a job search is and dedication to taking any reasonable job you can just to be free from that system. We also know what it’s like to start our lives as newlyweds and for me learning to navigate living in a new country.

Our journey to debt freedom

We saved our money from a young age and went on to have part-time and full-time jobs throughout the years into College and University.

We were fortunate to grow up in families who taught us the value of money and to save for what we wanted but we never relied on anyone even during tough times.

It was important for us to learn from our experiences rather than to be bailed out all the time. We both feel teaching children about money at a young age is critical to their future.

After we were married we continued to save so we would have enough money to pay for a decent down-payment on our Canadian home. We didn’t want to be house poor getting the giant mortgage that the bank said we could get.

We took time looking for the right house to call home and one that didn’t break the budget so we could easily use just one income for all household expenses. We were able to put down 32% of our mortgage as a down-payment, pay off 2 newer vehicles and our education by living a frugal yet sensible life.

Although we both went back to school in our 30’s it has taken us some time to build our careers and our salary so we are able to save more and continue to spend less. Nothing was handed to us, we worked hard even if that meant starting over while our friends were already having kids and living in their dream homes with the amazing careers. It didn’t matter to us, what matter was what we needed to do to get where we needed to get.

A big kick-start to the debt pay-off was using a Budget! Yes, that’s right and if you don’t think that a budget for you than you probably are reading the wrong type of blog. I’ll tell you just how much we spent and how much we earned every month to prove to you that it’s possible to save and become debt free with patience and determination.

Bye Debt!

As of June 2014 we are now mortgage and debt free under the age of 40 just five years after purchasing our home. Although we had the money in 2013 to pay off the mortgage we were waiting for the exchange rate in the UK to work in our favour before moving our money over.

We now hope to start investing aggressively in our retirement funds, save for renovations and some well deserved holidays. We also hope to potentially purchase an investment property and work on earning passive income. If we are lucky we’d also like to start a family but only time will tell how successful we are at that. I suppose you’ll have to stick around to find out.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, DIY projects, gardening, cooking, nature and the outdoors, hiking, keeping active, basketball, soccer, running and meeting up with friends and family. Life hasn’t been easy but it also hasn’t been as difficult as it could have been if we didn’t learn to save and live a frugal lifestyle.

I’m here to tell you how and what we did to get where we are in hopes of inspiring others to make a change and share their voice like I am today.

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What is Canadian Budget Binder?

Canadian Budget Binder essentially is a virtual binder filled with life topics surrounding personal finance. If it has to do with money, we talk about it at CBB. I believe that anyone can use a budget and should if they want to get on track with their personal finances.

Every category in a budget represents a part of our lives so we talk about each of these categories of life. As CBB continues to grow it expands on topics that Canadians want to learn about because this is what they are asking for.

Working together to build a place that is safe to be yourself! That is what sets us apart from all the rest. We care, we listen and we want to share your voice. We don’t criticize we try to learn from everyone’s life experiences, that’s CBB!

We’ve all made mistakes in our lives and continue to make them even though we try to make positive changes. You can fail here, but we are here to help pick each other up so you can work towards reaching your goals.

Inside Canadian Budget Binder

This is only a highlight of what you will find when you open Canadian Budget Binder and turn the pages;

Who is Canadian Budget Binder for?

Canadian Budget Binder is for fans of all ages from all over the world who want to learn about personal finance and living a frugal life. Personal finance is such a broad topic it’s nice to get the perspective of different age groups who have different life experiences.

So, please won’t you join me here with our many fans from around the world and share your voice! Let us learn from each others experiences so we can all make money work for us and not against us.

Introduce yourself

Don’t be shy, I’ve introduced myself now introduce who you are and where you are visiting from in the comments below. Why do you want to budget and save money?

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Comments

you guys sound amazing! My husband and I arn’t anywhere near six figures either, but we’re trying to get our finances in order and save for a house so we can buy a home in the next few years. look forward to reading your story of inspiration!

Thanks! My wife and I both started over with life and education and we have made it this far without any debt but the mortgage.
The Canadian Budget Binder simply has made life so much easier and I hope to inspire everyone I can. This blog is for everyday folk just looking to get out of the red and into stress free living. Money will come when you love what you do.

At some point we had to learn from someone in order to lead someone else.

“True Leaders don’t Create Followers, they create Leaders”-J Sakiya Sandifer
I hope to create Leaders who can go on and share the knowledge with others.

Thanks for stopping in and checking out the blog and I’ll be sure to pop around your blog. Mr.CBB

I think it’s great that you started the blog to share what you have learned about budgeting and saving for your future. Good for you for keeping your debt down to only a mortgage. That seems rare these days!

We also live by a budget. I found that our overspending came mostly from groceries/Costco (a warehouse store). Since I started using cash for food/entertainment rather than credit cards, I rarely go over budget. We have two kids, so we don’t save as much as we’d like – but we are teaching them about managing money.

Thanks. I started the blog to show other average families that budgeting can be done and saving can be done. It is essential that everyone has an emergency fund but most don’t or think they can’t. You can overspend even if you use coupons or buy deals and sales. This is why we want to show people that you need to budget. We are just like everyone else struggling to keep afloat. We don’t make tonnes of money and that’s why I feel it is important to share our earnings and how we manage that money. I won’t be using any big financial words here just simple everyday stuff about life. Hope you continue to participate here at CBB! Cheers and thanks for your post.

Hi Mr. CBB:
I’ve been looking over your website and all the great tips and articles. I’m eager to apply all this practical knowledge as I’ve never been good with money or sticking to a budget. Wish me luck! 🙂

Thanks, MR CBB for your great site! I’ve only been here for about 6 months but have already learned more than I forgot! I live in BC in a tiny, tiny, mountain community of approximately 250 people. Stores, banks and other amenities are an hour away so one must be VERY organized in order to capitalize on the savings available! I’ve recently started clipping coupons again (after a long hiatus) and am making it work. Some weeks I am able to save $85 – $90! Keep up the terrific work and thanks for all you do!

Hi Linda,
Thanks for your kind words. Do you find coupons have changed over the years? Do you also use coupon apps to save money combined with paper coupons? What are some of the goals you have set for 2016? – Mr.CBB

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